Question: What widespread problems will your work/research fix? And who will they have a major impact on?

Kevin Mahon answered on 18 Jun 2012:

I think my work will address the issue of cat containment here in the U.K. In the USA and Australia, it is normal and advised to keep you cat indoors at all times or restricted to your property. In the U.K. owners tend to believe cats should have more free reign than that – however we have 300,000 cats dying on the road every year. Naturally, may owners in the U.K. rightfully worry that keeping their cat restricted can have behavioural and physical side effects.

I think my research can address this issue and intially with the electronic containment systems, provide cat owners with solid evidence to restrict their cat or let it roam. It will also help charities and advice groups so they can reliably inform owners about what is best practice. My work will also provide insight into cat ownership in the UK and the risks to cats in general, which is obviously important for owners and charities but also government – these are important considerations for law makers developing any new legislation relevant to pet ownership.